Studies on patient isolates of HIV-1 have correlated different patterns of cytotropism and virulence with the sero-positive pre-AIDS and AIDS phases of disease. Here we studied the evolution of HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins with respect to antibody responses. Two approaches were used (i) viruses representing different phases of infection were tested for relative susceptibility to neutralization by a panel of antibodies; (ii) Env-coding sequences from the same viruses were evaluated for their ability to raise neutralizing antibody. Envs studied included Envs with different V3 loops or growth characteristics, serial Envs representing the progression from the healthy sero-positive to the AIDS phase of infection, and serial Envs from patients with long term non-progressive disease. Antibodies were raised using a novel method of immunization that we helped pioneer -- gene gun delivery of Env-encoding plasmid DNA to the epidermis. FUNDING NIH / NIAID $83,956 1/01/98 - 12/31/98 PUBLICATIONS Livingston, J., Lu, S., Robinson, H.L. and Anderson, D.J. Immunization of the female genital tract with a DNA-based vaccine. Infect and Immun 66:322-329, 1998. Lu, S., Wyatt, R., Richmond, J.F.L., Mustafa, F., Wang, S., Weng, J., Montefiori, D.C., Sodroski, J. and Robinson, H.L. Immunogenicity of DNA vaccines expressing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein with and without deletions in the V1/2 and V3 regions. AIDS Res Human Retroviruses 14(2):151155, 1998. Richmond, J.F.L., Lu, S., Santoro, J.C., Weng, J., Hu, S-L., Montefiori, D.C. and Robinson, H.L. Studies on the neutralizing activity and avidity of anti-HIV-1 Env antibody elicited by DNA priming and protein boosting. J Virol 72(11):9092-9100, 1998. P51RR00165-38 1/1/1998 - 12/31/1998 Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center